PLEASE NOTE: This article contains MAJOR Spoilers for Hogwarts Legacy. Proceed at your own risk.Hogwarts Legacyis far from being a perfect game, but it does deliver the Wizarding World simulator that fans have been begging for. While its combat is intuitive and creative, its visuals are fantastic, and its side activities are engaging,Hogwarts Legacyis let down most of all by its story. Taking just 25 hours to beat, which for an RPG is pretty short,Hogwarts Legacy’s story is a run-of-the-mill tale about the dangers of a mysterious McGuffin magic and an overly evil force who wants to wield it for generic evil purposes. And what makesHogwarts Legacy’s storyeven worse is the fact that it leaves a number of important questions completely unanswered.
When working with such a vast universe likeHarry Potter’s, it’s only natural that not everything can be explained within the confines of a 70-hour game.Hogwarts Legacycan’t spend hours retreading the laws of the Wizarding World and how everything works, but it should devote that time to telling its own distinct story and tying up all of its loose ends by the time the player rolls credits. Unfortunately, that’s not the case here.
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Hogwarts Legacy Leaves a Lot of Questions Unanswered
One of the biggest questions players will have after rolling credits onHogwarts Legacyis just who their character actually is, and why they possess this mysterious, rare form of ancient magic.Hogwarts Legacyopens up with the player receiving their acceptance letter from Hogwarts, with it saying that they’ve been accepted as a fifth year, and due to the abnormal circumstances they’ve been assignedpre-term lessons with Professor Fig. The player never actually finds out why they’ve received this letter at such a late stage in their wizarding life. Normally, Hogwarts letters are sent out when a witch or wizard turns 10 or 11, butHogwarts Legacy’s character is meant to be about 15 or 16. Nothing is ever revealed about the main character’s backstory, where they came from, or if they even have any family.
Similarly, it’s quickly revealed in the prologue that the player-character can wield an extremely rare type of magic, simply known as “Ancient Magic.” Despite several teases throughout the game, the player never finds out why they have this ability, or how they long they’ve had it. It’s never even stated how long they’ve been able to use regular magic, though it’s seemingly implied that they’ve just started, which makes their prowess with it a little convenient.
The whole premise of “Ancient Magic” is something thatHogwarts Legacyalso doesn’t really explain. Despite the entirety of the main plot revolving around it, players never find out what Ancient Magic actually is. Players also never find out how Ancient Magic originated, or who originally wielded it. It’s also a complete mystery as to how and why Ancient Magic disappeared, as whileThe Keepers hid some of its uses from the Wizarding World, it’s never stated that the rest of the world was oblivious to its presence. Presumably, another witch or wizard somewhere else in the world could wield Ancient Magic too, and in that case, it’s a mystery as to why it isn’t still being used by the time ofHogwarts Legacy.
On the subject of The Keepers,Hogwarts Legacyalso leaves a few questions open about them, namely what happened to them afterthe death of Isidora Morganach. All that’s known about The Keepers' lives after this point is that they agreed to keep Ancient Magic secret, and that they created a series of trials to ensure that one day a wizard or witch with Ancient Magic abilities could wield it for good.Hogwarts Legacynever reveals how most of The Keepers lived the rest of their lives or how they died.
Hogwarts Legacyis out now for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X with PS4 and Xbox One versions coming April 4 and a Switch release dropping July 25.
